That Time of Year

August is usually a particularly ho hum kind of month.

Most everywhere I have lived the summers actually begin in April with scorching temperatures from May through September.

As far as heat and humidity, August is usually the worst.

By the eighth month, the newness of summer has long since worn off and the monotony of hot, rainless days drones on beating the body and will into mindless submission. Keeping plants and animals watered is nothing short of a Herculean task.

However, August means the children are getting ready for school. My favorite part of preparing for school is shopping the office supply store for new and fresh school supplies. I love the feel and smell of fresh notebooks. I love looking at all the new gadgets and gizmos for home, work, and school productivity. I am near faint when I inspect all the new kinds of writing instruments.

I am insane, I know, I just have this thing for new office supplies.

Then there is the glow of beginning anew at the start of a school year. There are new teachers, new classes, and, sometimes, new friends.

There is something rewarding and challenging about a clean slate.

There are few times when opportunities are without bounds.

Four-year-old Little Bit has another year before she officially starts Kindergarten, but she and I have been working in Preschool workbooks. She is on the cusp of reading. She can "read" some words, but that is more word recognition than actual reading. Her excitement and enthusiasm for learning is infectious.

There is a part of me that would very much like to return to college and obtain a degree in Architecture.

As often as I could not wait to be done with school, particularly after law school, there is a significant part of me misses the life of a student.